Expressive Incoherence and Alexithymia in Autism Spectrum Disorder
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Expressive incoherence can be implicated in socio-emotional communicative problems in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study examined expressive incoherence in 37 children with ASD and 41 typically developing (TD) children aged 3-13 years old during a frustration task. The role of alexithymia in expressive incoherence was also assessed. Compared to TD children, children with ASD had higher expressive incoherence, such as more neutral and positive emotion expressions during negative behaviors, but not in the expression of negative emotions during positive behaviors. Further analyses revealed that alexithymia moderated the expressions of positive emotions during negative behaviors. These results suggest that children with ASD may benefit from interventions targeting alexithymia to increase emotional coherence, which may improve socio-emotional communication.
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A growing literature has highlighted the importance of diagnosing comorbid alexithymia, which may explain some socioemotional and communicative deficits of autism and be worthy of targeted intervention.
“A growing literature has highlighted the importance of diagnosing comorbid alexithymia, which may explain some of the socioemotional and communicative deficits of autism and be worthy of targeted intervention [78–83].”
From A 'choice', an 'addiction', a way 'out of the lost': Exploring self-injury in autistic people without intellectual disability (2019) · cites this paper as [78]
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- Authors
- Costa, A. P., Steffgen, G., & Samson, A. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Luxembourg (LU)
- University of Geneva (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Costa, Andreia P.
- Venue
- Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
- Published
- 2017-03-06
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1659-1672
- ISSN
- 0162-3257 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-3432
- OpenAlex
- W2593201172
- Cited by
- 51
- References
- 79
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 3.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- RERO DOC (Universität Bern) (submittedVersion)
- Open Repository and Bibliography (University of Luxembourg) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Keywords
- alexithymia, autism spectrum disorder, emotional expression, frustration, emotional coherence, children, moderation
- MeSH terms
- Autism Spectrum Disorder, Adolescent, Affective Symptoms, Child, Child Development, Child, Preschool, Communication, Female, Humans, Male, Expressed Emotion
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